Tuesday, April 3, 2012

“The Infectious Diseases Society of America has taken a strong stand against the belief that people are chronically infected with the Lyme disease bacterium. Unfortunately, a large number of patients have been misled by self-appointed lay experts who have organized support groups that aggressively dispute the views of the academic research community and public health agencies. They have a strong presence on the Internet and an alarming amount of political influence. The result is that a large number of people are being treated needlessly for an infection they do not have. The misdiagnosis and mistreatment of Lyme disease have the potential to become a larger public health problem than Lyme disease itself.”- Durland Fish from “What makes ticks tick?” by Michael Greenwood, Yale School of Public Health magazine.

There is a pervading myth amongst opponents of Chronic Lyme Disease, of how it is an example of both medical quackery and significant mass hysteria (the likes of which the world has never seen)- no possibility of any other option, regardless of the multitude of evidence proving otherwise.

These “experts” are of the opinion that those of us who have chosen to turn our suffering into a quest for change are in fact worker bees for a corrupt and criminal medical syndicate, run by greedy doctors whose only goal is to fill their coffers by emptying the pockets of gullible patients, who are likely suffering from some sort of psychological disorder.

They also suggest that a foolish trust in the internet, imploding with lay-person misinformation, is also to blame for the rising belief in a chronic form of the supposedly “hard to catch and easy to treat” bacterial infection, one that Dr. Eugene Shapiro of the IDSA says they “know well and are handling just fine”.

Sadly, despite the continual reassurance of the public from the IDSA and their brethren, it’s quite apparent by the significant swathe of devastation that Lyme Disease has carved worldwide that their pronounced lack of concern most definitely appears to be a case of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.

The idea that millions of people are suffering from mass hysteria and through this have become victim to the biggest scam in medical history is completely and utterly ridiculous. The legitimacy of this theory is eroded even further when you actually look at those who have been diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease. You can clearly see that these are not mentally unstable individuals nor have they been “convinced” there is something wrong with them for the benefit of profit.

On the contrary, many of these patients were active and thriving members of their communities before falling ill, with busy lives and hopeful aspirations. Following infection a completely different story becomes apparent. Once successful lives totally altered beyond recognition. Social activity reverted to isolation, sadness and despair, by no means an effective method for garnering attention or sympathy. Lyme is a lonely disease, full of uncertainties and unanswered questions. I find it hard to believe that millions of people would intentionally ruin their lives and lead themselves down a path that would leave them turned away by the majority of the medical community and surrounded by suspicion because their health issues are perceived as being “all in their head”.

Those of us in the Lyme community are often referred to as “zealots” and “conspiracy theorists”, but I must say that the creative license that the IDSA often takes when attempting to describe the origins and purpose of the Chronic Lyme movement are some of the most outlandish and poorly conceived ideas that I have ever seen.

It’s as if they think the American public is made up entirely of morons, who know no better than to follow like sheep, leaving the powers-that-be to do their “work” without concern for ethics or consequence.

The time-clock is slowly ticking down for these bastards of corruption, their sheath of lies wearing thin as the “zealots” become the populous and our “mass hysteria” is unveiled as truth.

It’s very simple: To deny a disease is a crime and the only scam at work is the intentional sugarcoating of a serious diagnosis for the benefit of power and profit.